Football to host annual Bone Marrow Testing Drive on Nov. 5

Oct 26, 2012

DURHAM, N.H. – As part of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Be The Match Registry®, University of New Hampshire head football coach Sean McDonnell and his Wildcat football players will host their annual bone marrow testing drive Monday, Nov. 5, from 11 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Piscataqua/Cocheco Rooms at Holloway Commons.

The test is a simple cheek swab. No blood or needles are involved. The event is open to everyone, and event registration and testing take 20 minutes or less for each person.

Over the last four years, UNH has recorded a greater number of registrants than any other participating school in the northeast and looks to continue this feat by bringing in over 600 participants this year. The Wildcats join other Division I programs Villanova University, Temple University, Harvard University, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Northeastern University, the University of Maine, and Wagner College in the quest to identify potential donors for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry.

There are 20 million people worldwide who are registered as potential marrow donors. Still, there are only about 250 matches found each year, making it a 1-in-80-thousand chance that a registered donor will be a match. In addition, racial and ethnic heritage is an increasingly important factor in the need for donor matches. Donors of the following ethnic backgrounds are especially needed: Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and Hispanic or Latino.

Patients suffering from leukemia, lymphoma and other life-threatening diseases that can be treated by a bone marrow or cord blood transplant are desperately searching for donors every day.

For more information on the bone marrow testing program, please contact Bobby Callahan at bobby.callahan@unh.edu or (603) 862-5098. For information on the NMDP call 1-800-MARROW-2 or visit www.marrow.org.